Kerala Church forms tribunal to try priest, many say it’s similar to Inquisition courts

Sections of the clergy under the Syro Malabar Church, an Oriental faction of the Catholic Church based in Kerala, have alleged that the institution is regressing to the standards of the European Church in the Middle Ages. This is after the Thamarassery Diocese announced the setting up of a tribunal to try a dissident priest, accusing him of sedition against the Church.A Catholic nun from north Kerala pointed out, “Not even priests accused of murder or a priest who was defrocked for raping a minor have had to face such a trial.” Many compared the tribunal to Inquisition courts of the Middle Ages, which, according to a priest from Ernakulam, are a reminder of the “most barbaric” phase of the Catholic Church..The Kerala Church faces several allegations regarding the lack of financial transparency, the leadership’s affiliations to right wing politics, liturgical dogmatism, and a host of other issues. The growing discontent among the priests and laity was further fed by an order to set up a tribunal, which many are comparing to the Inquisition courts of the Roman Catholic Church in the medieval period, also known as the Dark Ages in history. Bishop Remigiose Inchananiyil of the Thamarassery Diocese set up a tribunal (an ecclesiastical court having jurisdiction over the Church and its clergy) to initiate penal judicial proceedings against Fr Ajimon (Thomas) Puthiyaparambil. Ajimon stepped down from priestly ministerial services pointing out the ‘general decay in Church’ and calling for reform. During the months after stepping down, he wrote about the various areas needing reform in the Church. .“You publicly took a stand against the decision of the Synod of Bishops of the Syro-Malabar Church and incited sedition and hatred toward the hierarchy, provoking the faithful to disobedience through your public speeches and messages on social media, causing scandal and violating ecclesiastical discipline,” the Bishop’s letter to Ajimon said. The tribunal will “probe into these alleged offences and decide on the appropriate penal sanctions to be taken to repair the damages and scandal caused by your acts of disobedience and anti-ecclesial activities, violating the disciplinary norms of the Church,” it added.In an earlier conversation with TNM, Ajimon had said, “Such practices, even though prevalent in the Middle Ages, are unprecedented in the Kerala Church. A canonist who I consulted also agreed that this was likely the first instance of a tribunal being set up to try a priest,” he said. None of the priests contacted by TNM, including senior members of the clergy, could recollect the formation of such a tribunal in the Kerala Church. The European Church in the Middle Ages (AD 476-1500) was said to be ‘decayed’ and ‘corrupt’, and led to much dissatisfaction, which resulted in the ‘Reformation’ and the Protestant Movement. One of the Church’s tactics to silence the voices of dissent, which came to be known as ‘Counter Reformation’ was the Inquisition courts. It started in the 12th century and continued for a few centuries. The punishments included even severe torture and death. The worst of the lot was the Spanish inquisition, which lasted for more than 200 years and conducted around 32,000 executions. “They were the courts that tried Galileo Galilei alleging that his scientific findings were against Catholic beliefs. Joan of Arc, known for her role in securing France’s victory against the English in the Hundred Years’ War, was burned at the stake by an Inquisition court. It is the same model that is now being adapted by the Thamarassery Diocese. It is a return to the Dark Ages,” another priest told TNM.Inquisition courts of the Middle Ages are now understood to have been a blatant abuse of power. Four and a half centuries after she was executed for heresy, Joan of Arc was declared a saint by the Catholic Church in 1920. .The priest pointed out that those who face these allegations in the Kerala Church and are perceived to be against the Bishops have only wanted its revival and reformation.The nun from north Kerala said, “Voices of dissent were always suppressed by the Church internally. I once exposed the corruption of our parish priest at the Diocese. In response, I was transferred to a different state. The Church has always hid its unpleasant sides.” “The history of the Medieval Church was forgotten or ignored for several centuries. No Church authority ever spoke of it in public until 2000, when Pope John Paul II issued a public apology,” another senior priest from Ernakulam said.On March 12, 2000, at the altar of St Peter’s Basilica in Rome, Pope John Paul II said, “We cannot fail to recognise the infidelities to the Gospel committed by some of our brethren, especially during the second millennium. Let us ask pardon for the divisions that have occurred among Christians, for the violence some have used in the service of the truth, and for the distrustful and hostile attitudes sometimes taken towards the followers of other religions.” He added, “We are deeply saddened by the behaviour of those who in the course of history have caused these children of yours to suffer, and asking for your forgiveness we wish to commit ourselves to genuine brotherhood.” Many in the clergy said that the Pope was apologising for the persecutions and the Crusades carried out under it, and for the religious intolerance in the Church that lasted several centuries, even though these were not named by the Pope.A senior priest from north Kerala said, “Just look around, the Church faces allegations of corruption, rape, religious intolerance, and now a tribunal in the model of Inquisition. These were the crimes the Catholic Church committed in the Middle Ages that later led to the Renaissance and the formation of Protestant groups. History has proven that these trends will only result in divisions.”